This invention relates generally to protective devices used by human beings. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus that is configured to provide both protection for a user's eyes and ears by use of the same device.
Eye protective devices have been around for many years and are old art. Such devices find use in the workplace by millions of workers every day. Protective eyeglasses are indeed mandated by federal and state safety standards in factory settings and manufacturing facilities. Eyeglass frames having separate protective lenses are most often used. Other specialized eye protective devices have been devised for welders, painters, and other industrial professionals and often take the form of an eye and face shield. When such devices are not in use, they may simply be removed and stowed away for later use. Other configurations allow for the eye protective device to be rotatably moveable away from and out of the user's visual field. It is also understood that such eye protective devices are not limited to use in the workplace. They may be used by sportspersons, law enforcement personnel, military personnel, airport employees and other persons who need to protect their eyes without substantially impairing their visual acuity.
Similarly, ear protective devices have been around for many years and are old art as well. Sound muffling devices find use in the workplace by millions of workers every day and are likewise required by federal and state safety standards. Such devices may be in the form of sound deadening ear plugs, ear muffs, and other like hearing protection. When such devices are not in use, they may also be removed. And their use is not limited to the workplace either. As was alluded to above, they may be used by others who similarly need to protect their ears during certain activities when hearing could be impaired.
In the experience of this inventor, the wearing of a separate eye protective device with a separate ear protective device can be uncomfortable. For example, the use of earmuff ear protectors very often has the tendency of “pinching” the skull grips of conventional glasses, especially behind the user's ears. This can be particularly uncomfortable when the user is wearing safety glasses over regular corrective glasses. This discomfort makes the user more apt to wear one or the other of the protective devices. Additionally, conventional glasses may need to be removed intermittently for close-up, unimpeded visualization. Wearing earmuff ear protectors makes this an inconvenient proposition and also one that compromises the safety of the user when the user removes either protective device. Furthermore, the use of conventional safety glasses with earmuff ear protectors has a tendency to break a portion of the earmuff seal about the user's ears thereby rendering the hearing protection afforded by the ear protectors less effective.
There have been prior attempts to combine the concept of eye protection with ear protection. Such attempts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,089 issued to Horton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,596 issued to Korny et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,999 issued to Brown et al. In the experience of this inventor, such devices have practical limitations that are not readily apparent until the devices are placed into practice. For example, such devices utilize a combined ear and eye protection configuration. The devices may be constructed with an ear protection portion which includes a head support member that is independent of the eye protection portion of the device. This adds to the complexity of the device as well as increased costs of production. In devices that attempt to utilize the eye protection portion of the device as the head support for the ear protection portion, the eye protection portion tends to be configured in the fashion of conventional eyeglasses that include a frame and lenses that are separate and apart from each other. In the view of this inventor, what is needed is a combined ear and eye protection device that utilizes the eye protection portion of the device as the head support for the ear protection portion, but that configures the eye protection portion in such a way that improves on the conventional eyeglass configuration by use of a single piece of eye protection material.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful combined ear and eye protection device that utilizes the eye protection portion of the device as the head support for the ear protection portion of the device and that configures the eye protection portion in a way that improves on the conventional eyeglass configuration by using a single piece of eye protection material in a unitary configuration. It is another object of the present invention to provide such a combined ear and eye protection device that configures the eye protection portion in a single piece manufacture that reduces or eliminates the discontinuity between lens and frame. It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a combined ear and eye protection device that reduces or eliminates any impairment of the user's field of view and that enhances it by providing for unimpeded peripheral vision. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a protective device that utilizes a minimal number of elements by incorporating a unitary, one piece eye protector with a pair of ear muffs and that requires only a minimal number of steps to use. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a protective device that is easy to assemble, economical to manufacture and that can be manufactured in a variety of lenses.